Bing Maps

Again, the association between Nokia and Microsoft gives us leaves news to tell. Little by little the agreements and joint investigations that these two large companies are carrying out are coming to light. This time it is about the improvements experienced by the Microsoft map tool, known as Bing Maps , thanks to the use of technology and the cartographic development of Nokia mapsNews that can be enjoyed both on mobile phones Windows Phone 7 and on the Bing website

Specifically, it deals with two important new features for Bing Maps The first is the possibility of knowing the real-time traffic status That is, when accessing Bing Maps via mobile phone or computer and pressingView Traffic it is possible to see, thanks to a color code, the traffic density of the country's main highways. And not only from Spain, since Bing offers this service to others 24 countries in Europe and the rest of the world

A service that can be very useful for planning a trip or avoiding traffic jamsOf course, it is still only available for the main roads A step ahead leads in United States , where Bing Maps also provides traffic information on minor roads and highways Something that is expected to end up being implemented in the rest of the countries over time.

The other novelty is less visible, but without a doubt it is an advance of great importance for this map tool This is the use of Nokia coordinates and data, that is, the technology of geolocation of the Finnish company. Something that allows Bing Maps not only to know the names of major roads, but to allows you to associate a longitude and latitude to a particular point, such as a street, by performingfaster searches and specific of places.Something that users will appreciate.

With this, Bing Maps gets a big boost, improving its accuracy and adding new features. However, it is very far from what is seen on Google Maps, where it is already possible to know the subway or bus stops , and even guide us through the different floors of a shopping center It is also far from the next Apple project , who will present in the coming weeks an application of maps with 3D cities, showing the volume of their buildings.

However, from the official Bing page it is announced that these improvements are only the beginning of what is to come. All this thanks to its alliance with Nokia, so we will have to be attentive to the next advances of this tool For now, it is possible to enjoy these new features from mobile phones with the Windows Phone operating system and from the web page of the Bing search engine Traffic information is now available in Spain, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and USA